[Gordon Booth]

I'm afraid it's typical of those who has spent their lives isolated in academia that they feel there is their view(the correct one) and the views of those who don't agree with them(through lack of understanding, poor things). That's one of the problems of our education system today.
Of course the USSR had some remarkable achievements, if you keep a state of almost 300 million people short of food,clothing,housing etc and work them like slaves there will be lots of money left for some 'remarkable achievements'.
For almost 30 years Stalin was the USSR and the USSR was Stalin. If Stalin was a lunatic(agreed) he was ruling a lunatic state because the two were one.
You concentrate on a few physical achievements-the nations efforts and sacrifices during the war-yes. The T34-yes(well designed for massive rapid production to overwhelm the Panzers). The Ak47-yes(brilliantly designed for the job it was intended for). The first man and woman in space-yes. The Lada- well, you can't get them all right, can you?Vodka- I like it. The Soyuz- a marvellous workhorse for space.

But lets look at how the USSR(don't just blame Stalin) treated its reason for existing- its people.
Between 3 and 10 million people starved to death under the 'Collectivization of Agriculture' policy .
Two and a half million peasants who didn't starve exiled to clear the land.
3.7 million sentenced for 'revolutionary crimes' in 2 years,0.6 million of them shot, 2.4 million sent to labour camps.
The 'Great Purge'-1.5 million arrested, 700,000 of them shot.
80,000 of the top military and its officers shot because Stalin was worried about them. Leaving the armed forces without experienced leadership just before a war started.

You quote a few physical achievements- I quote the price the people paid. The price was far in excess of the achievements. And the Soyuz, the man and woman in space, most of its post war achievements, destroyed it by bankrupting it.
Little to praise or admire.